Marco Rubio opposes Violence Against Women Act

Sen. Marco Rubio was among the 22 GOP senators who voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act – a law that the Florida Republican said he largely supports but couldn’t ultimately vote to renew because of new provisions in the bill.

Rubio is scheduled to give the Republican response to President Barack Obama’s State of the Union address Tuesday night.

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Among his reasons for opposing the legislation, which passed 78-22: it would divert funds from domestic violence programs to sexual assault programs, even though “there’s no evidence to suggest this shift will result in a greater number of convictions,” Rubio argued in a statement.

“These funding decisions should be left up to the state-based coalitions that understand local needs best, but instead this new legislation would put those decisions into the hands of distant Washington bureaucrats in the Department of Justice,” Rubio said.

In that statement, explaining his opposition, Rubio ticked off several parts of the law he supports, such as federal programs to prevent and reduce violence, and combining 13 existing programs to four to make those programs more efficient.

Rubio added that he was concerned with a provision that would grant tribal courts jurisdiction to prosecute crimes against non-Native Americans on tribal lands – which several other Republicans have said could raise constitutional problems.

“Unfortunately, I could not support the final, entire legislation that contains new provisions that could have potentially adverse consequences,” Rubio said.